Bay City pins hopes on offensive nucleus

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL TOUR: DISTRICT 24-4AQB Griggs helps make rebuilding process easier

SAM KHAN JR., For The Chronicle

Published 5:30 am, Sunday, August 14, 2005

Teams at all levels usually dread rebuilding. Glass-half-full optimists often will refer to it as reloading. But no matter how you put it, it has to be done at some point for all teams, and Bay City is no exception.

But the Black Cats are different from most squads that lose two-thirds of their starters from a playoff team. The few players they have returning are on offense in the form of quarterback DaMarcus Griggs and receivers Cordero Williams and Dorian Williams.

Receivers first-rate

Griggs, who was a first-team all-district selection last year as a junior, will lead the offense. Beginning his third season as quarterback, Griggs has the experience, knowledge of the system and skills to make things happen.

"(Griggs) has great thinking abilities," Bay City coach Alan Cherry said. "He throws the ball very well in the short game, deep game and the play action and has done everything else we've asked him to do."

Griggs' job is made easier by having two receivers named Williams.

Both were all-district performers last season — Cordero was 24-4A Offensive Player of the Year and Dorian was a second-team selection — and combined for more than 1,000 yards as a receiving tandem.

"(The Black Cats) have wide receivers who are all fast, especially Cordero Williams," Texas City defensive back Brandon Robinson said. "He's probably the best receiver I've seen come from around here."

Williams also plays defensive back, grabbing six interceptions as a junior last year.

"(Williams) has good speed, good movement, and he's a really talented young man," Cherry said. "We feel like he's one of the top athletes in the area."

Questions on defense

Ten starters are gone from a defense that allowed 13 points per game in 2004, so Cherry will be counting on his seniors to point the way.

"We're going to have to do it through our senior leadership," Cherry said. "They've got to help some of our younger kids get in a position to be successful for us at the right time."

The road to contention will kick off Aug. 27 in the Texas Football Classic in San Antonio, where Bay City will play La Marque, the same team that dramatically ended the Black Cats' 2004 season.

In the first round of last year's playoffs, Bay City lost to the Cougars on a blocked extra-point attempt late in the fourth quarter. La Marque ended up winning 21-20 and dashed the high hopes the Black Cats had established with a 9-1 regular season, which included a 20-9 victory over the Cougars in the first game.

"I'm not disappointed in our kids or anything like that," Cherry said. "I'd like to have seen us go farther than what we did, but our kids had a tremendous season. We know it's a big test, but playing teams like La Marque definitely makes us stronger and better."